Just over twelve months in the past at the Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally awarded the go-ahead as the world of Formula One's latest entry for 2026. Building the squad from nothing has entailed a hectic work rate that the principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 converges on the Vegas strip this weekend, Cadillac understand the clock is ticking.
The Tight Timeline to Australia
At the final race of the season to be hosted in the US, with approximately three months to go before they take to the track for the maiden outing in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a never-ending challenge, they are conscious there will not be sufficient time.
The CTO, Nick Chester, came aboard the newly formed team in March 2023 not long after it was formed, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its heart ever since and gets a amused expression when considering the journey.
“There might be a brief moment looking back at what the team has achieved and say: ‘Amazing, isn’t this fantastic what we have built in less than three years,’” Chester states. “Then the very next instant you consider: ‘Yes, there is still quite a lot to do.’”
An Unprecedented Challenge
Nick Chester had success at the Renault team in Fernando Alonso’s title-winning seasons of 2005 and 2006 and was in charge of engineering strategy at the recently formed Mercedes Formula E team, but nothing has quite compared with the task of introducing the iconic American Cadillac brand, a works entry backed by the corporate entity, GM, into F1.
“Building an Formula One team from nothing, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” Chester remarks. “It's unparalleled. In an established team you rarely get the chance to alter cultural approach.”
With each passing day that goes by focus are more focused on the approaching critical moment in Melbourne and expectations are being handled.
“One must presume that any incoming team entering the sport is probably going to finish last but just making it to the starting line will be an feat in itself,” the team principal stated this year and while the CTO shared this view he felt the team had a statement to make as well.
“The first thing we want to show is that we should be there,” he says. “In order that we turn up and we perform competently. We seek to prove that we are a serious contender executing the right things on the track. When we’ve shown that we’re really credible, then we will focus on progression subsequently.”
Pilot Selection and Hiring Drive
In the summer they recruited Checo Pérez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for 2026, a duo remarkable for their invaluable experience in performing at the front in two championship-winning squads, Red Bull and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas expressed the sentiment of fighting spirit.
“Certainly, we’re realistic,” he said. “There’s going to be a huge amount of work to do, and it’s going to be almost certainly a difficult start, because it is F1. But we’re not there to remain at the rear. In my view with this setup, with this group, these personnel, there is every reason that we can't manage to progress rapidly to a competitive level and enjoy some success.”
To realize that ambition hiring has been in full swing, with employees now up to more than 400 and scheduled to reach the objective of 600 members quickly. Complementing their current base at the UK base, the team are in the midst of finishing an headquarters at Fishers, Indiana in the Indianapolis area and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are constructing the plant to manufacture the new engine, set for the 2029 season – for now they will use Ferrari engines – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne, Germany. It is a intricate organization, at odds with the movement in Formula One for greater centralisation, and has inspired the new cultural approach to which Nick Chester referred to.
Space Mission Model
“It's closely based on the Apollo project,” stated the team principal shortly before the British GP in July. “We have a clear-eyed view, we know how tough it is. The deadlines, are incredibly tight. Alright, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but it can seem that way.”
So they have embraced, rather than the conventional chain of command, a decentralized management akin to that of the space agency's, where there were a assortment of Apollo teams all working on different aspects of the program across a different facilities.
“When you must follow a process where someone has a problem and they report it to their supervisor, that supervisor talks to a supervisor somewhere else, it is relayed back, the process is very slow,” notes Chester. “We give authority to team members to handle things directly. Avoiding managerial sign-off for all decisions is much smoother and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this nimble methodology will be proven in the heat of competition in 2026 and there is no little amount at stake for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have recruited as their test driver the 25-year-old Californian Colton Herta
